Horvath Signing: on flippers and collectors

Jul 29, 2009

That’s me with my new jacket. It’s a jacket that only a few have since I hear it’s quite pricey. It was gifted to me by David Horvath after his signing at GRNY. It smells of thick leather and made by the hands of Tony Nowak, the guy David Horvath’s been obsessing over since he makes the Indiana Jones gear. I guess without having to get beat up, I’ve been jumped into the Uglydoll crew. Yes, in Babo I trust. It’s the first Uglydoll I ever saw, the OG handmade version by Sun-min perhaps in 2002. It was the Uglydoll that started it all. And by “all” I mean the juggernaut that it is, but also the crazy fans who follow and collect.

The fans come in different shapes and sizes. I’ll talk about the signing of the limited edition of 20 Pink Babo we had at Comic Con.

Evidently one of the early folks in line is a “flipper” which means, they buy and sell the product. What’s the ruling on “flippers?” I know little of who they are by face. Can you spot a flipper just by looking at them? Evidently, before the pink Uglydoll went on sale, the flipper already had the Uglydoll on ebay. I recall what happened. We were alerted to the ebay issue about a 5 minutes before the signing started, maybe less. David and his manager seemed to know who it was, but there was nothing anyone can do about. Do we kick them out of line? He has rights as well, and how do we know if you’re a collector today and a “flipper” tomorrow?

This is right before the signing. It’s a strange baseball pose. David always looks happy, or strange! I got some “hate” mail after the signing, outlining some of these points. I won’t reveal names, it’s just unfair and not nice to do so although he/she chose to CC it to David.

1) He/she should have been able to get an Babo pink because he’s bought from us before. We should have sold to him privately.

- No. Most everyone in that line has bought from us before. What makes you so special, or more special than anyone else is line? Do I pre sell them all to those who have bought from us before? If I did that, you would definitely not get one. There are bigger purchasers than you and surely more than 20 of them at Comic Con.

2) the line was unfair – we should sell them earlier to those who come. The signing starts at 11, that’s when we should sell the Pink Babo.

- The sales did start at 11. The line at 10:30. Fair enough. Some people were there at 9:30 when the con opened, we shoo’d them away as best we could. How else would you do it besides pre-selling, which we won’t do. If we did that, why even have a signing at the Con? We had people come and say it was unfair that we waited to sell until sunday. Again, why have a signing if it’s on sunday but we sell the dolls on wednesday? Also some came early hoping we’d sell to them, and thought it was unfair that we didn’t. If we sold to the first 20 who wanted them, then it’s possible that they would be gone before you showed up.

3) I’m nice in person but write biting emails later.

- the wrath of the collector.

4) We should ban the flipper, that’s what another competitor does.

- I don’t have a police blotter with photos of flippers. Do you? How do I know, that you won’t sell them one day? Would you have purchased two, one to sell later, if you could? Also they outline that the competitor does a lot of pre-selling of goods to them. But is that competitor fair or are they chasing your money? Think about it from the other side. We’re not chasing money by selling the rarest pink Babo for $60. If we put a $120 price tag on the final color run Babo, we would have sold them all, but we’re all about the fans. We could have easily bought 5 to sell later at a higher price, which we also didn’t do. Think about all of these points and tell me that we’re unfair.

5) I got an Uglydoll Pink Babo. I shouldn’t have got one, they should have been sold. I was rubbing it in by showing it off.

- I got Babo Pink #21. We sold the 20 pieces. The one I got is none of your business, it wasn’t part of the official run. It was an unwrapped one handed to me by David. It was not for sale, and most definitely not for sale in front of the guy who gave it to me. Ridiculous accusation and completely wrong. I can hold a toy if I want to and it’s has nothing to do with what you have, or don’t have, or what you want. Yes, you have to buy it on ebay if you want it, that’s the only place I can think of where you can get one.

6) I’ll no longer buy from you. I don’t feel special.

-GR does it’s best to be fair. I’d think by following your list of demands, we’d be unfair to the next collector or fan who waits in line. Uglydoll isn’t about competition or hoarding (if you read the box toys you’ll know), it’s about feeling good, being fair, and doing the right thing. It’s about family and I’d guest most of the folks who got the 20, feel like part of a family. What toy line can do that?

David wears the GR shirt. That was rad. Among the crazy collectors, some of who probably hate us, David still supports.